COURTHOUSE — Luck may have run out for a local man who pleaded guilty Wednesday to stealing hundreds of dollars from a charity donation jar, a cash register and a vending machine’s worth of lottery tickets from a Norristown restaurant last year.

Richard Williams, 21, of the 700 block of West Marshall Street, Norristown, pleaded guilty to one count of burglary before Judge Steven T. O’Neill, in Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas.

Williams was ordered to spend the next month to 23 months in Montgomery County Correctional Facility and pay back the $2,557 he stole.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, on May 29, the owner of Alfredo’s, located at 1138 West Main St., Norristown, called police to report a burglary that had occurred overnight.

The owner told police the burglar was able to remove the cash register, with $200 inside, a donation jar containing about $400 in bills and change and numerous rolls of scratch-off lottery tickets from a vending machine. A total of 64 lottery tickets were stolen, with a face value of $1,280 and a potential value of over $1 million.

When police arrived on the scene that day, they observed a wire grate behind the restaurant that had been pried open, away from a basement window, which allowed access to the rear door, which had also been forced open.

Detectives contacted an official from the Pennsylvania Lottery, who provided a printout of what blocks of tickets were stolen and whether anyone had attempted to cash them. Results came back showing Williams had attempted to cash in tickets at numerous locations in and around Norristown, Philadelphia and Upper Darby.

Video surveillance obtained from the locations showed Williams attempted to cash in the tickets at various places.

Police said Williams gave some tickets to friends, who also tried to cash them in at stores around the area. Their names are being withheld by police. It was their cooperation that led to Williams’ arrest, prosecution and ultimate guilty plea.